A Time of Need
by shana1
Summary: This is my first Proof of Life Fiction, so be kind:) This story follows the book for like ten sentences then it's all me. Rated R for language.I finally updated!
1. Default Chapter Title

  


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or claim rights, I just wanna write a story.  
Rating: I'm gona say PG-13, but it won't have anything too bad in it. I write clean:)  
Summary: This is taken from a scene in the book which isn't in the movie...Just before the sex scene(!). But there's no sex in my version. After the car bombs in the city Terry takes her back to her house and goes to his hotel to think, because he doesn't want to be alone with her(forbidden love and all). That's when danger comes a knockin'. Please read and review.  
My first Proof of Life fic, and I haven't read any others online, so here goes...  
Author: Me, Shana  
E-Mail: p.shana@gurlmail.com  
Enjoy  
A Time of Need 

Alice sat on her bed, her hands lay limp on her lap as she gazed out the window of her top floor bedroom. Fire could be seen over the rolling hills and peaks that made up Tecala City. Gun shots were constantly ringing out and she couldn't help but feel a deep pang in her gut as she tried to calm her nerves. 

It had seemed like days ago that Terry had left, telling her to let no one in and stay put. She'd gone to the neighbors but they weren't home, and she felt vulnerable outside especially in this dark. The television, when the power wasn't choking, poured out images of dead and wounded, fires, bombings, and gun battles between Military and rebels in the streets. E.L.T. was everywhere.

Her nerves were on edge and she kept checking the doors to make sure they were locked and watching the drive way for Terry. Hoping he'd get there soon. She was walking to the front door when the lights flicked out once again. She paused, waiting for them to spur back on and sighed, a hand on her hip. After a long moment filled only with the sound of gun shots and sirens she moved to the living room where she had a flashlight in a cabinet somewhere. She got it out and clicked it on, frowning at how dim a light it gave off. 

She spun, letting the light fall all around her, reasurring herself she was alone and safe. She picked up the phone and tried Terry. The phone didn't even have a dial tone.

She dropped it to the ground suddenly as the dog next door began to bark loudly and snarl against his chain. She rolled her eyes and put the phone back on it's craddle, walking to the side of the house where she could see the dog. Sure enough the large dog was pulling against it's bonds, snarling as he snapped his jaws and lunged in rage. She scanned the yard and saw nothing unusual, same shadows and movements of the vegetation surrounding the Scorpion house. 

Suddenly the dog yapped loudly, his noise silenced. She looked up, but only saw it's silouetted form laying on the floor. She froze in terror, the dog didn't move, she knew it was dead. A shadow caught her eyes from the side of the house, it moved quickly, disappearing around the corner. She backed away from the window and rushed up the stairs turning her flashlight off as she ran.

She locked herself in her bedroom and rushed to the phone, holding the reciever to her ear she prayed for a dial tone. She needed him now more than ever, she didn't know what to do and he hadn't left her alone this long before. It met her ears and she sighed as she dialed Terry's number, praying he was alright in all this caos. He might have been hurt in the city, or maybe the hotel was bombed, or he tried to break up a fight and...She stopped, taking a deep breath as she heard the first ring.

  
Terry Thorne lay on the couch in his hotel room, shirt under his head, phone on the floor next to him and a pistol at his side. He was being torn in more directions than he could bear. His feelings for Alice had grown into a flame that threatened to take him over, a firey blaze that he welcomed. He drapped an arm over his eyes and sighed, he knew that he wasn't playing by the rules. He never should have let his feelings for her grow, she was a married woman. Thinking she was attractive is one thing, but longing to hold her or smell her hair, or touch her hand briefly was taking it too far.

The phone startled him from his thoughts and he prayed Dino was on the line, and not her voice. His prayer wasn't answered.

"Terry?" A quiet yet alarmed voice asked into the phone, he sat up. Muscles tense from just the sound of her.

"Alice, are you alright?" His voice urgent, alreadly pulling his shirt over his head. He'd told himself she'd been safe, that the fighting wasn't near her and he could stay away. For the both of them, it was the best thing. He didn't trust his intentions or how she would react to them.

"There's someone here, I don't know if their trying to get in or if their just out there. I swear to God they killed the dog next door and I saw someone run around the house and..." She went silent and gasped, the bad connection not allowing his to hear what was happening on her end.

"Alice! What's happening?" He asked as she breathed heavily. "Where are you in the house?"

"I just heard glass break, God Terry! What am I suposed to do?" Her voice was paniced and he wished to God he hadn't left her.

"Where are you right now?" He asked as calm as possible, making sure he wouldn't alarm her further.

"The bedroom. I locked myself in." She was whispering, he could tell she was terrified and hated it.

"Stay their and don't move, I'm on my way." He was out the door in seconds, shoes, gun and shirt in his hands.

  
Alice gripped the phone in her hands and shook, in a cold sweat. She could hear movements downstairs, footfalls that were searching the house. She realized they weren't here to loot, or to rob her. They were looking for her. The E.L.T. most likely. She closed her eyes and wished more than anything that Terry was there with her. Just his presence made her feel strong, safe, a secure.

She waited as she heard the faint noises of footsteps moving up the stairs and towards her room. She heard the door next to hers open and then something being moved, then the footsteps made their way to the hallway again. She closed her eyes and croutched down as she made her way to her closet, closing the door behind her and freezing in silent terror.

Her door handle was twisted, the lock holding. She heard it being giggled and then a thud agianst the heavey door. She gasped, trying to hold herself together or else she would rush out of the closet screaming. The door was still being tampered with and she knew that they would get in and that Terry was at least another ten minutes away. If he were here he'd know what to do, he'd know just what to tell her, and just what to say. And of course he would've beat the crap out of the person now trying to get to her. He told her to stay put, he knew what he was talking about.

She suddenly let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and listened closely. The noise had suddenly stopped. She paused, opening her closet door slightly and trying to catch any sound. Her blood thumped loudly in her ears and she turned her flashlight on. Nothing. Her room was empty and the door was locked still. 

She sat on her bed and waited, maybe they were here to just loot some stuff. She gave a sigh, but still remained silent. She heard steps going down the stairs, then to the back of the house. She went to the window, looking down through the currtain, remaining still. She couldn't see anything through the darkness, a thick black blanket of it covered the ground.

Brave. Peter had always said she was brave. She looked at the door and took a deep breath, walking to it she listened to the other side of it. Still nothing. The person was probably long gone and Terry would get here and laugh at her for being scared and reasure her that she was fine and nobody was after her. In all reality they shouldn't be, she was paying the bad guys so they should be staying away from her. The guy was probably some kid who was looting in all the caos, just looking around.

She sighed, taking the lock between her fingers and slowly turning it. She waited as if the door would burst open in any minute and hit her. But it never moved and silence met her ears.

Her senses were still wired but they had been for months. She put her hand on the door knob and turned it, flashlight in front of her. She pushed the door open and stuck her head out, light from her torch pouring into the hall. She saw nothing out of place, and saw or heard no movement. A feeling of sureness came over her and she laughed quietly. Things were different down here, maybe it was normal to have people do that crap in an uproar like the city was in now. 

They might be back later though, maybe they were just seeing what they could get once they came back with their friends.

Terry would be here by then.

She walked down the stairs suddenly upset with herself for being to jumpy. When Terry arrived she would laugh it off and just blame her stress and tension. And then he would be here, and he would most likely stay the night to make sure she was safe. And even if they were in a jungle surrounded by guirillas armed to the teeth she would still feel safe by his side.

All thoughts were slammed aside as she turned to enter the kitchen and felt strong arms grab her from behind. Her cry was lost on deaf ears, not a soul could hear her and even if they could they wouldn't care. She felt a hand grip her throat tightly and winced.

"Listen to me." A thickly accented voice rasped as she stiffened. "Two million in cash or Peter Bowman dies, and we send his organs back to you in jars one at a time. Comprendo?" He shook her by the throat roughly and she gave a choke, trying to inhail. 

The hand sholved her into the wall and she thudded into it with a shout. She started to turn, moving to the kitchen where she knew she could find something to fight with.

An iron hand closed around her arm and jerked her to face it's owner. She looked up at a face encased in a black mask and struggled.

"And tell dear uncle that if he doesn't close this deal, we take you both out along with the package." He opened his mouth to continue but Alice struck out with her foot and connected solidly with his shin. He roared as his hand tightened on her arm, cutting off the blood flow. His other hand flew up and backhanded her, closed fist connecting with her cheek.

She fell to the ground and her face contorted in pain, her head ringing. She cried out as she was lifted to her feet and his fist connected with her face again, her lip splitting. She covered her bloody mouth and didn't care as she smeared her bloody hand on the wall and on her clothing.

"You do as we say! You're not in control her!" He threw her and she landed against the back of the couch, her momentum taking her over it and she slammed down on her side. She didn't get up, her efforts ending as she tried to bend her joints. She crawled to her knees and looked up, her attacker was rushing through the kitchen to the back door and she groaned as she pulled herself up onto the couch. She got to her feet and held her ribs as she grimaced at the shooting pain in her head and body. She grabbed her flashlight and rushed back to her room, the only room in the house with a lock besides the outside doors. 

Falling onto her bed, clutching the flashlight she burst into tears. She wiped at the blood on her face and felt at the bruise forming on her cheek. She let tears cascade down her face as she sobbed. Peter was gone, she was falling in love with the man she hired to get him back and now had been beaten and threatened by a foriegn mercinary. She thought of the horrible things the man had said, and how she'd barely been able to do anything to defend herself. She hated that feeling more than anything in the world. She lay on her bed and cried, waiting for Terry to come. She would give anything to hear his voice at that very moment.

A second passed.

"Alice!" Terry's cry errupted from his throat as he raced inside, seeing the broken door to the patio and the picked lock to the front door. He neared the stairs, going towards her room when he saw a bloody hand print on the wall, glancing around the room, he prayed she wasn't lying there. Hand going to his gun.

"Terry?" Her voice floated down the stairs, in moments he was up them and rushing to her room.

Alice darted out her room at the second she heard him, and when he emerged from downstairs she ran at him. They both clutched at the other as if there were no tommorow.

Terry closed his eyes as he held her, one arm around her back, the other in her hair pressing her to his chest. He pulled her back at arms length and looked her over to make sure she was alright. His face tightened as he looked over her marred features.

"What the hell happened?" He asked as he brought a hand up to craddle her jaw. "Is he still here?"

"One of the E.L.T." She started out taking a deep breath, her crystal eyes wet with tears. "He told me we had to give him two million dollars in cash or they'd kill Peter, and then they'd come after us, and..."

"Did you see his face? When did he leave?" He asked as she shook her head.

"Maybe five minutes ago...he was wearing some sort of mask." She tried to answer his questions knowing this was important, and not to look into his concerned eyes and handsome face.

"Bloody hell." His jaw tightened and he shook his head. "I shouldn't have left you here alone, I wasn't thinking. None of this would've hap..." His words were interupted as Alice covered his mouth with her own, a sudden burst of emotion that couldn't be contained. And he resisted...for maybe a second.  
*****  
More to Come!  
Feedback will determine whether or not I should continue so be honest and lemme have it:)

  



	2. Chapter Two

Ok tell me what you all think of it so far, and I know I haven't updated in like a year so I appologize over and over for it! I just read some reviews and knew I had to finish this story, plus I love writing it.  
  
Alice woke up and absently rubbed her jaw, then winced. She slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the morning light flowing through the windows. Looking down she saw that she was drapped in a thick comforter, her shoes next to the bed. She could feel the weight of Terry's arm draped around her waist and turned to see him.  
  
He lay silently, she couldn't help but notice how gentle his face looked while he slept. His hair was a mess. She grinned slightly. He lay on top of the covers, all of his clothes still on. She saw he'd slept with his gun on and frowned. A second look at his face told her he hadn't slept much. The door was locked and the phone was next to the bed on the floor.  
  
She couldn't even remember what had happened. She remembered being scared, on the phone, the man who attacked her, and she remembered Terry. He'd held her as she cried, and returned her desperate kiss with vigor. But she also remembered when he'd forced himself to pull away from her. He told her she was scared and they should stay put until morning, and she knew he was trying to sway the mood. She let him, knowing it was just as hard for him to stop as it was for her.  
  
He'd gotten her ice for her jaw and gingerly cleaned her cut lip, the whole while dreading his decision to stay at his hotel the night before. If he'd been there she wouldn't have been hurt by some merc and he might have gotten some answers out of the invader.  
  
She let her eyes travel over his face, his ruffled hair, and down his shoulder and toned arm around her waist. She kept finding herself comparing Peter to him. Thingking things like: Peter never had arms like that, or Peter wasn't as chivelrous, which really was an unfair thought. Peter had never been put in a situation to prove his chivalry to her, she was sure he would measure up. And she couldn't expect him to bench as much as a soldier, he never was very athletic. They simply had different traits.  
  
But the kiss she'd shared with Terry could compare to no other. No matter how long she lived with Peter she knew she was cursed to know that the most passion she'd ever felt in one single moment hadn't been for the man she'd married. That thought made her more uncomfortable than she could stand.  
  
She heard a car engine close by and perked her head up. The engine died and she heard a door open. At the soft sound of the door closing Terry was sitting up, his pistol magically transferred from it's buttoned holster to his hand.  
  
"It's probably just Dino." Alice said as she lay a hand on Terry's shoulder. At her light touch, he faced her. His features softened as he looked at her face, noticing her defined jaw line now was a dark purple color. Her lip had a raw cut, but wasn't swollen anymore. His hand gripped his gun tighter as he nodded to her and let his free hand push a stray strand of hair from her face.  
  
"Probably." He agreed as he got up and with a twist and roll of his shoulders popped his back noisily.  
  
"I'll go see." He said as he left, gun in hand but no longer the battle- ready dimeanor.  
  
She watched him get to his feet and walk to the door his finger's flexing around the hilt of his gun as he walked into the hall and stopped near the stairs, he was about to peer down when he heard broken glass being stepped on.  
  
"What the hell happened here?" He heard Dino shout as he sighed and jogged down the stairs. Dino looked up as he met him at the bottom and lifted his hands in the air, brows raised.  
  
"I leave you alone for like, two seconds and this happens!" He said as Terry tucked his gun behind him in his pants and gave Dino a look. "I Alice ok, were you here?" He asked as he looked around the room, seeing how there were sings of a definite struggle.  
  
"No, I was at the hotel. She called me and when I got here he was gone mate." He gripped the back of the sofa and his knuckles went white. "He tried to scare her, smacked her around." Dino saw the bloody hand print on the wall and walked over and touched it, knowing it was dry but doing it anyway. Terry turned and gritted his teeth.  
  
"You don't beat the people you're trying to get money from, they've never pulled this shit before!" He took a deep breath and Dino shook his head.  
  
"What the fuck is this country coming to!" He said as he looked at the blood and broken glass and actually let out a growl. "I'm about to get really pissed off at these guys and they don't want that." He walked into the kitchen saying something else, but Terry ignored him. Alice was walking down the stairs, she'd changed from her blood stained clothes into a white button up blouse and some linen trousers with leather fringe that dragged on the floor over her bare feet.  
  
"Watch out, there's a lot of glass." Terry said as she nodded and tip toed to where he stood and lay a hand on his upper arm. Before he could say anything Dino entered again and looked at Alice's face and shook his head.  
  
"Alice, this was way wrong. In so many ways." He crossed his arms and looked at her hand on his arm then at Terry, who looked away. "I don't know what their doing, I say we get a bird and try and find them in the mountains." Terry lifted and hand to stop him.  
  
"We don't know where they are, there's no way." Dino knew he was right but he was still set off.  
  
"Well, we need to find a way. These guys are reaching the deal is falling apart, and eventually our guys up there in the mountains aren't gonna be worth enough. We need to go in somehow." Alice cringed and walked to the door where she carefully stepped past the glass and disappeared outside.  
  
The two men were silent, one was suspicous and the other was guilty. Dino gave Terry an interrogating look through his brows.  
  
"Did you sleep with her?" He asked it bluntly, but had he side stepped it wouldn't have been his way. Terry gave him a bitter look that said it all.  
  
"No." He walked into the kitchen and got out a bottle of burbon from the fridge and didn't even bother with a glass.  
  
"Man, you can't do this to yourself she is counting on you to bring her husband home!" He animated his words with his hands and Terry simply sighed as the liquor went down and set the bottle down. "What are you holding out for? She get's Peter back and then hands him divorce papers?" He knew Terry knew this already but letting him hear them anyway might penatrate his thick skull.  
  
"I know what I'm doing." Terry said as Dino sighed.  
  
"You know they don't even tell you not to do this when you sign up for the job, it's that wrong. It's one of those things that comes with common sense." Terry took another drink and gave him a look as he screwed the cap on.  
  
"Drop it." He said dangerously and Dino sighed, he nodded and ran his hands through his hair.  
  
"Ok. So your on for tonight right?" He asked as Terry paused then nodded.  
  
"Yeah he should contact me tonight around eight." He looked his watch then glanced out the window to see where Alice was. She was sitting next to the pool curled up in a lawn chair.  
  
"Well don't get carried away with him ok?" He got up and gave Terry a slap on the back. "Keep in touch and either get her outta here or stay over from now on. Call me if you need me." He was near the door when he turned back. "And sleep in the guest room!" Terry couldn't help the smile and shook his head.  
  
Alice sat with her arms around her knee's in one of the chairs next to the pool, biting her nail absently as she looked over the city of Telcala. Smoke rose from several places and she could faintly here an alarm going off. At least Peter wasn't here to see this. She closed her eyes.  
  
Every time she thought of Peter she couldn't help but feel guilty. She kept thinking about their last words to eachother and how unhappy she'd been. How she'd wanted to leave Telcala the moment she got there, and how angry Peter was at her.  
  
What would've happened to them if this hadn't? Would she be in the United States filing divorce papers or would they have talked it out. She'll never know. Every day Peter seemed further and further away and she was starting to forget the man everyone talked about, the man she was married to.  
  
"Alice?" She sighed at the voice, he seemed to make everything better. All fears and doubts left her when he was near and she sometimes wondered what would've happened had they met somewhere else. Maybe in college or when she'd taken that trip to Australia the summer she graduated with her sorority sisters. She looked up at him.  
  
"So what did Dino say?" She asked as he kneeled in front of her and lay a hand on her knee.  
  
"That we should ride into the jungle with riffle's and horn's blaring." She gave a half smile and it made him smile back, he wanted her not to worry. "We're gonna continue with nagotiations but I think he's got something planned he's not telling me. I hope it's nothing that's gonna get him in trouble." His face was stern again and he looked over the fence to the valley below where the city was in chaos.  
  
"This place is such a mess, it's like these kidnappings have set off a chain reaction. The government moves in, the E.L.T. pushes back and the innocent people are the one's who get punished." He watched her as she shook her head and looked at a house that was now a skeleton that was smoking and charred. "These people can't afford this war, that's why the bad guy's will win." She met his eyes and he could tell there was something bothering her. Something else.  
  
"Peter told me to leave the night before he was taken." She admitted as she held back tears. "And I was going to, then he was gone and now..." She ran her finger's down the side of his face and shrugged as she swallowed hard.  
  
"I feel like I've already said goodbye to him and how fair is that?" Tears were slipping down her cheek's and Terry took her hand and shook his head.  
  
"Don't feel bad about this, I take full responsiblity for..."  
  
"No." Alice stopped him and gripped his hands like a vice. "I would be gone right now if he hadn't been taken, and then I wouldn't have met you. And even though I've tried to tell myself differently I would rather have met you this way than never met you at all." He gently moved her blonde curls from her face with his hands and looked into her bright blue eyes. He had no reply, he couldn't get his lips to move.  
  
So he didn't talk he simply pulled her into his arms and held her. And she let her tears fall, all the emotions she hadn't shared and the bottled up feelings coming out with them. She dared not say it but she was falling in love with him, and there was no way this was going end happily ever after no matter what the result. And so she held him, the feeling of his arms around her was the most comforting thing she'd known. Both the sweet and the bitter. Bitter because she was a married woman and how could she leave Peter after all this? But how could she let Terry go? It was a question she was going to have to ask and she knew it wasn't going to be an easy one.  
  
I love Dino, we'll see lotsa him in my fic, tell me what you think and where you think it should go. reviews please!!! 


End file.
